The museum was founded by Roger Kelsay in 1998 with a single airplane, and has grown to a collection of 15 aircraft. The Oregon State alum spent time in the military before he founded Premier Jets in 1984. In fact, he was still in the Air National Guard at that time, but started Premier, also at the Hillsboro Airport, as a charter flight company. Kelsay remains the owner and president of both Premier and the museum, with the museum operated as a non-profit venture. Doug Donkel serves as the museum’s director.

View full sizeM.O. StevensA F-104G and MiG-17F undergoing restoration at the museum

Kelsay selected Hillsboro for the museum due to the proximity to his other company, and the runway lengths at the airport. Apparently some of the jets in the collection need 6,000 feet or more of runway to take off, and Hillsboro has one of the few runways that long. Hillsboro Airport’s longest of its two runways (12/30 for the airplane folks) is 6,600 feet. Plus, the airport now has a customs office, making it a port of entry. The later is interesting, but not a factor in the museums location.

View full sizeM.O. StevensThe Douglas C-47 on display outside of the museum

Although housed in Hillsboro, the museum sends aircraft to a variety of air shows each year across the Pacific Northwest, including the one at the Hillsboro Airport and one in British Columbia, among others. Demonstrations at these air shows include airborne demonstrations and ground displays. This is part of the museum’s mission of educating the public by showing them working aircraft. The other focus is on restoring aircraft to flight-worthiness, which is mainly done by volunteers, and done primarily at the museum’s hangar at the Hillsboro Airport.

So, you can stop by for the free tour, or volunteer some time, and you don’t need to be a pilot for either activity. Group tours and other visits can be arranged by contacting Classic, plus the museum folks are available for lectures.